Indicating mechanism.



E. D. DENNIS & A. A, KREUTER. INDIGATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 31, 1912.

1,054,185, Patented Feb. 25, 1913.

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' EDlHAR-D I). DENNIS AND ALBERT A. KREUTER, OF PLYMOUTH, WISCONSIN.

INDICATING MECHANISM.

1 ()54 1 85. Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Fglo, 25, 1913 Application filed May 31, 1912. Serial No. 700,896.

To all whom 2'25 may concern: I

Be it known that we, EDWARD D. DENNIS l and ALBERT A. Knno'irea, citizens of the United States, residing at Plymouth, in the county of Sheboygan, State of lVisconsin, have invented a new and useful Indicating Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in indicating mechanisms, the primary object of the invention being the provision of a novel form. of actuating mecha nism for a tape or band having placed thereupon various figures or signs for indicating the streets or stations and the like, said mechanism being so constructed that the tape may be fed in either direction, as desired, so that when the car or vehicle has reached the end of its route, the stations in reverse order will be presented.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of an indicator, having two superposed feed rolls upon which is wound a tape or belt having disposed thereupon: signs or other indications to be presented one at a time, a novel oscillatory mechanism being disposed between and in co-active re- I lation with one or the other of said rolls, whereby either one may be actuated to cause the tape to be wound thereupon, each of the respective rolls being provided with a spring l l t l l brake mechanism to )revent the undue rotation of the rolls and to offer a sufficient resistance to permit of the return of the actuating mechanism without aifecting the rolls. lVith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combil nation and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made withy in the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings-Figure 1 is an end elevation of the complete mechanism, with the end of the casing removed and with portions of the front and rear wall being broken away to show the mounting of the tube. carrying the actuating mechanism. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the mechanism in the position as applied to the lower roller. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the telescoping tubes and rack bar carrying mechanism.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the casing provided with the usual aperture (not shown) and mounted longitudinally within this casing is the upper shaft 2 and. the lower shaft 3. Upon the respective shafts 2 and 3 are the tape carrying rolls 1 and 4 respectively, each one of which is provided with its respective brake disk 5 and 5 which are disposed to be engaged by the free terminals of the friction springs 6 and 6 respectively.

Keyed upon the upper shaft 2 is a pinion '7, while keyedupon the lower shaft 3 is a pinion 8, these pinions constituting the ope *ating pinions for the shafts, while having its respective ends connected to, to be wound to and from the respective rolls 4 and 4t is the sign carrying tape or belt 9. This belt is guided over the rollers 10 and 11 disposed to present the belt in stretched relation to be exhibited through the front 12 of the casing.

lVith the mechanism in the position as shown in Fig. 1, the roller 4 is actuated to cause the tape 9 to be fed upwardly from the roller 4 upon the roller at, and in order that the tape may be fed, thefront and rear walls of the casing 1 are provided with the apertures 13 and 14: for the reception of the sleeve or tube 15. This sleeve or tube 15 is capable of an oscillation of substantially 180, and in order to retain the sleeve 15 in the desired position, a collar 16 is keyed upon the forward end of the sleeve 15 beyond. the exterior of the front 12 of the casing and carries an integral arm 17, in which is mounted the sliding pin 18. The inner end 19 of the pin 18 is disposed to register with either one of the apertures or sockets 20 or 20 formed in the front wall, the pin 19 co-acting with either one of the said sockets to retain the sleeve 15 either in the position as shown in Fig. l or in that shown in Fig. 2.

The tube 15 intermediate of its ends and within the casing is slotted as at 21 while mounted slidably upon the tube 15 and concentrically thereof, is a short tube 22. A spring 23 is mounted upon the tube 15 and abuts the .front wall and adjacent end of the tube 22 and thus provides a means for automatically returning the short tube 22 from the position as shown in Fig. 2, to that shown in Fig. 1.

Secured to and carried by the short tube 22 by means of the pins 2d, are the two arms 25, each one of which is provided with the projection 26 which permits the rearward movement of the arms so that when in an extreme rear position, the arms are in a vertical position and the bar 27 with its teeth 28 is projected so that said teeth 28 are placed in engagement with the pinion 7 of the shaft 2 when in the position as shown in Fig. 1, or in mesh with the pinions 8 when in the position as shown in Fig. 2. ln order to move the sliding sleeve 22 toward the frontwall 12 of the casing and at the same time project the toothedbar 27 so as to be placed in engagement with either gear 7 or 8, the lower end 29 of the arms 25 has connected thereto, the pull cord 30, which is disposed within the tube 15 and projects exteriorly of the forward end thereof to any desired location. This cord may be used for manual operation or it may be connected to automatic means, so thatthe indicator will be actuated automatically to indicate the desired street or station that is the next stop.

lVit-h the parts in the position as shown in Fig. 1, pulling upon the cord 30, will pull the short sleeve 22 toward the front wall 12 of the casing and against the tension of the spring 23, and as the bar 28 is in mesh with the gear 7, the upper roll 1 will be rotated in the direction of the arrow so as to feed the tape 9 upwardly and from the roll a. '1 he release of the cord 30 will permit the spring 23 to move the short tube to the right as viewed in Fig. 1, and as the spring (3 offers su'tlicient resistance to the roller t, to prevent the contact of the teeth 28 of the bar 27 to impart reverse rotation to the gear 7, the bar 27 will be moved downwardly so that the teeth 28 will just slightly engage the extreme ends of the teeth of the gear 7 and be propelled out of engagement therewith.

Should it be desired to reverse the feeding of the tape 9, the pin 18 is pulled outwardly to release the pin 19 from the socket 20 and the lug 17 is then oscillated so that the pin 19 is brought into registration with the lower notch 20, at which time the bar 27 will be placed below so that the teeth thereof will affect the gear 8 of the lower roll 4 and be in the position when the cord 30 is pulled upon to the extreme left as clearly shown in Fig.

ln order to provide an audible alarm. to attract the attention of the public when a sign is being exhibited, the arms 31 are provided and are connected to the braking drum 5, of the upper roll t, and are in the path to engage the free end 32 of the lever 33 which is pivoted in the top of the casing as at 53 i. This lever 33 is in reality a bell clapper and has disposed thereupon the spring 35 for throwing the striking end 36 into engagement with the bell 37 disposed upon the exterior of the casing 1.

By means of the shouldered portions 26 of the arms 25, it is evident that when the cord 30 is pulled upon that these shoulders will limit the projection of the toothed bar 27 so that the teeth thereof will be in a substantially parallel line to the surface of the tubes 15 and 22, but that when the tube 22 is released, and is free to be moved by the spring 2 3, that the arms will assume the dotted line position, as shown in Fig. 2 and thus permit the toothed bar 27 to be retracted and moved toward the short tube 22 and out of engagement with the teeth of the respective pinions 7 and 8.

l l l. l

lVhat is claimed is:

1. An indicator mechanism, including two parallel rollers, a name carrying tape connected. to said rollers, an oscillatory tube disposed between the rollers, a slidably mounted tube mounted upon the oscillatory tube, roller actuating means carried by said slidably mounted tube, and means for oscil' lating the oscillatory tube and locking it to present the roller actuating means to either roller.

2. An indicator mechanism, including a casing, two parallel rollers iournaled in said casing, a sign carrying tape connected to and wound upon each of said rollers, a tube mounted between and at right angles to the axes of the rollers, a short tube slidably mounted upon the first tube, a rack bar pivotally connected to said short tube and dis posed to be placed in engagement with one roller at a time, a spring for normally holding the short tube in inactive position, means for actuating the first tube to place the rack bar into operative relation with either roller, and manually operated means for operating the short tube against the tension of the spring.

3. An indicator mechanism, including a casing, two parallel rollers journaled in the casing, a pinion connected to each roller, a spring brake for each roller, an oscillatory tube mounted in the casing between the rollers and at right angles thereto, a sign carry ing tape connected to both rollers, a tube slidably mounted upon the oscillatory tube, a rack bar pivotally connected to said slidable tube and disposed for movement into and out of engagement with either one of the gears of the rollers, manually operated means for projecting the toothed bar and for sliding the short tube upon the oscilla tory tube, a spring mounted upon the oscillatory tube and exerting a tension upon the slidable tube to hold the tube and rack bar in inactive position, and means for oscillating the oscillatory tube to place the rack bar in operative relation with either one of the gears.

4. An indicator mechanism, including a casing, two parallel rollers journaled in said casing, a sign carrying tape connected to and wound upon each of said rollers, a tube mounted between and at right angles to the axes of the rollers, a short tube slidably mounted upon the first tube, a rack bar pivotally connected to said short tube and disposed to be placed in engagement with one roller at a time, a spring for normally holding the short tube in inactive position, means for actuating the first tube to place the rack bar into operative relation with either roller, manually operated means for operating the short tube against the tension of the spring, and an audible alarm operably connected to one of the rollers.

An indicator mechanism, including a casing, two parallel rollers journaled in said casing, a sign carrying tape connected to and wound upon each of said rollers, a tube mounted between and at right angles to the axes of the rollers, a short tube slidablyg mounted upon the first tube, a rack bar pivotally connected to said short tube and dis- I posed to be placed in engagement with one i roller at a time, a spring for normally holdl ing the short tube in inactive position, means for actuating the first tube to place the rack bar into operative relation with either roller, and means for operating the short tube against the tension of the spring.

6. An indicator mechanism, including a casing, two parallel rollers journaled in said casing, a sign carrying tape connected to and wound upon each of said rollers, a tube mounted between and at right angles to the axes of the rollers, a short tube slidably mounted upon the first tube, a rack bar pivotally connected to said short tube and disposed to be placed in engagement with one roller at a time, a spring for normally holding the short tube in inactive position, means for actuating the first tube to place the rack bar into operating relation with either roller, means for operating the short tube against the tension of the spring, and an audible alarm operably connected to one of the rollers.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own, we have hereto affixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD D. DENNIS. ALBERT A. KREUTER.

\Vitnesses Gus WV. SoHIEREoK, AoNns RooNEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

